Chamber of Game: Magrunner: Dark Pulse

If there’s one title that’s touted as a major influence on the way video games are developed today along with garnering universally praise, the name Portal shouldn’t surprise anyone. Since its rise to power, the puzzle/platformer genre, rare as it is, have a bar set so astronomically high the only contention possible is attempted by copying Valve’s formula. Magrunner: Dark Pulse follows this mentality, but has enough creative capacity to veer sharply off-course while still maintaining the design aesthetics that made Portal so popular.

The Chamber of Game is a new feature on Leviathyn that will showcase all manner of newer games/content in video form with one or two staff members commentating. While newer releases will always find their way into the Chamber of Game, you won’t see too many older titles here.

I’m a decent way through Magrunner as of now and, surprisingly, I’m impressed. Ostensibly, it appears as a Portal clone cash-in, and while it does have the dual puzzle-solving gadgets going on, there’s a much darker narrative present than anyone’s ready for. The voice acting isn’t half bad and the visual style is appealing in a bright, semi-vibrant kind of way.

Magrunner: Dark Pulse is currently available on Steam, Xbox Live and the Playstation Network for $19.99. If you’re a puzzle/platformer enthusiast and you absolutely adored games like Portal and Quantum Conundrum, Magrunner: Dark Pulse might be worth your time!

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Mr. Whipple is the grand magistrate of debate, sacrificing embarrassing amounts of time arguing about anything gaming related. He's also an avid protector of Final Fantasy VI, expert ship-crasher at Gradius and the prime chancellor of anything Mega Man. When he isn't writing or playing them vid-ya games, Andrew is a huge New York Giants fan who loves watching terrible movies.

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